Would you get a regular blade, half regular half serrated, or full serrated like this one?

Used when in the outdoors, hunting, and gutting a turkey maybe.
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No question. Plain, regular blade. & Get a Para Military (PM) 2.

IMO serrated blades are way more trouble than they're worth. They may have a use on a "Rescue" knife, cutting seat belts and such, but that's about it.

Plain edge.

Yes, plain blade. Buy a foldable saw if you need one.

I never buy ANY of thier overpriced, foreign made crap.

The PM is made in USA.

I agree with High Noon. I have found the serrated blades good for opening large/heavy items that are shipped on pallets with lots of plastic banding, plastic sheeting and stout cardboard. But for general outdoor use, and especially for use on game, a plain blade is the way to go. Also, you didn't ask, but I want my Spyderco to sit clipped to my pocket tip up.

RS

I prefer half serration knives myself. Sometimes I have to cut heavy zip ties at work and the serrated part makes short work of them.

I like half serrated for all around use. A dedicated small game plain edge. Spyderco makes great knives for the price point

I have a Manix 2 LW, also made in the USA. Plain edge for me.

I love it, but if carried in a front pocket it takes up a fair amount of space with certain pant-pocket designs. Most of my casual pants are just fine with that knife, in a front pocket.

It's a knife not a saw, right?

If buying a half and half for everyday use. Plain blade for hunting.! But I have a few Buck knives,mono need for a new one!

I don’t care for serrated blades.

My little Delica SS is my favorite pocket knife.

Which is why the PM2 is a good choice. Rex 45 is a good steel if you don't enjoy sharpening, as is Maxamet if you can find it.

Plain edge if you're using it for outdoor stuff. Serrated for defensive use.

Plain blade

Plain edged Native.

Only reason I’d get serrated is if I was cutting seat belts.

You're right, what would the Japanese know about making swords.


Plain edge for sure. I have one serrated one, a dedicated "boat knife" for cutting lines/ropes if the need shoulder arise on the water. I don't use it as a regular knife, trying to sharpen them is a giant pain in the ass.

I've got four Spydercos, three made in Japan, one in Colorado.

Plain edge FFG (full flat grind). Plenty tough and a great slicer. I have had all three and rank them plain>1/2 serrated>fully serrated. Serrations are only good for rope and heavy cardboard.

My daily carry is a resilience.

Actually that’s what I’m thinking. I have a 3 blade Browning that I use for gutting deer, but a combo blade would seem to serve all purposes imo.

The plain portion of a combo edge is shorter than a Swiss Army knife, which isn’t much. For cutting zip ties, use a pair of side cutters. Actually, a really sharp knife cuts the smaller gauge ties pretty easy. If you are cutting them off of something, you usually have to use the tip of the knife, which isn’t serrated anyway. If I really needed a serrated knife, I would buy a plain edge and a serrated edge and carry both. Serrated is also horrible for almost any kind of gutting and skinning.

Bought 1 half serrated knife, it sucks as an only knife.
A cheap little CRKT.

Then I bought Spyderco Stretch VG10 with the FRN scales.
Plain blade. Thin, light, a lot of blade for the handle length.


Carry them both in the same pocket.
A big razor sharp knife for that kind of use.
A smaller, cheaper knife for the crap that would screw up my good knife.

I had a Browning two blade lockblade.
Plain clip point, and a sheep's foot that was half and half.
Great little knife, no idea what happened to it.

Tpcollins: Back when I was on the job as a City police officer eventually transferred into the Harbor Unit - I (we!) always carried at least one Spyderco half serrated half plain bladed knives on duty.
They were incredibly useful and the serrated part did not hamper when not needed.
I thought my various Spydercos were made in the United States back then (1990 - 1995)? Anyway they were strong, lightweight, rust resistant (we worked in salt water often), stayed sharp and fit the hand and stayed in a hand when it was dark, wet and cold out.
I liked'em and again always chose the half serrated/half plain blade models.
I think I only have two left.
Best of luck whichever style you choose.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

I used my original full serrated Endura to field dress a deer.
A chainsaw would have done as well

I have many of their knives. Have not found a bad one yet. I have NO serrated blades.

I’m not a big fan of serrated blades. I have one half-serrated and had another once, maybe still do. One of the half-serrated ones is a Gerber that I used hunting for a while, seems every time I had my hands up in a body cavity cutting stuff loose I’d end up with a couple of punctures on my fingers from the serrations. Also it’s an absolute pain in the ass to sharpen them. My current EDC is a Kershaw Leek, plain edge, and all the “secondaries” in the biz on the dresser are too.

If I were buying a spyderco knife my buddy would stab me in the neck with it.

I like a plain blade best, but can live with half serrated.

Spyderco has an awful lot of very nice USA made knives at respectable prices. The Japanese made knives are excellent and even the Chinese versions selling under $50 are good knives for the money. Some of the best Spyderco's are made in Taiwan

The one in your photo is Chinese made if that matters to you. Still a good knife, but anytime possible I'd pay a bit more for one of the USA made versions.

I'd get the plain blade, certainly for any hunting applications. If you want to cut cardboard, rope, or whatever just do a good job of sharpening the knife with a coarse stone like a coarse DMT, the rough side of a Norton oil stone, or the coarsest media in whatever kind of sharpening gizmo you might use. That kind of edge also works good on game.

I used to use a half serrated Delica but then realized that the blade wasn't long enough to make either the plain or serrated edge long enough. Now, for EDC, I have plain Native and a plain Shaman for when I go somewhere where I can't carry.

I have the Delica plain edge and it is a nice little blade.

I like straight blades. I have a Benchmade Griptillian? That is half serrated. It is more of a daily carry, utility knife than a hunting knife.

I don’t own any Spyderco knives. For about the same price, you can get a Benchmade. I know they have less variety in models but I really like every Benchmade that I own. My favorite hunting knife is the Saddle Mountain Skinner.

Plain edge for me.

Lately avid knife aficionados regard Benchmade as over priced for the product received and their QC is suspect. Benchmade QC has been sketchy for several years.

BTW, the Spyderco Paramilitary 2 was mentioned above. I get a kick out of the markings on the blade, "Golden Colorado U.S.A. Earth."

I have both a Mini Griptilian and a Delica and here is why I like the Delica better.
1. Thinner scales so it sits flatter in the pocket.
2. I find the Spyderco hole easier to open with than the Benchmade stud.
3. I'm paranoid about the Axis lock mechanism being clogged up with lint.
That being said, I like the regular Griptilian over the Endura but prefer the Shaman over either one of them.

I've had a couple half-serrated folders, and when it came time for a new knife last summer, I went plain edge and am very happy with my choice. It's just a "lowly" CRKT, my 3rd by them, but it's solid and sharp and in the event that I dull it, a couple seconds with the finest grit on my Work Sharp and it's ready to go. Trying to sharpen my half serrated knives in the past were much more work.

Plain edge.

Hannibal reccomends the Harpy or Civilian plain edge models.

Used to carry a full serrated Spyderco in my younger days as a purely defensive blade. For the same reason the fellow who gutted his deer with one stated, it’s like a chainsaw. Never got to try that out, thankfully.

Always carried a second plain blade Benchmade as a working knife. Serrated works for one thing. Making wounds that keep bleeding and are extremely difficult to close. For everything else, plain and sharp is the way to go.

This is why I have almost always carried a 3 blade stockman pocket knife.

One blade is sharpened at a steep angle and used for things that would be hard on the razor-sharp kept edge of the other two blades,

I also prefer hollow ground blades

i once had to cut a zip tie...took me a while to find a knife that would do it...

I have a bunch of Spydercos, and every single one of them is a plain edge. I've had serrated edge knives in the past, and IMHO there are only two reasons to have one: (1) you regularly expect to cut fibrous materials like rope or seat belts (or that is the dedicated purpose of the knife, i.e. rescue knife) or (2) dedicated defensive knife.

For any other use, a plain edge is superior. For cleaning game, a plain edge is the only game in town.

As for some of the folks who won't buy Spyderco because it's "foreign crap", I'd say their foreign made knives are very good quality at the price point (note the Taiwanese knives are simply outstanding quality wise) so not crap, and if you desire to only purchase US Made knives then Spyderco has you covered there as well spyderco usa-made



Spyderco Paramilitary 3 is made in Golden, CO and my personal choice for a folding blade.

Half-serrated for cutting briars etc., out in the boonies.

I have never had a problem with a Benchmade and they are American Made. Whether they are overpriced is a matter of opinion, I guess.

Personally, I think Spyderco is all marketing and hype. They are ugly and cheesy-looking to my eye. I bought one when I was about 13 years old. It was a low quality, mass-produced piece of crap. There is a chance I may still have it somewhere. I imagine that they have improved but I’m a fast learner. I have no interest in the brand. I’d take a Buck over a Spyderco any day.

I look at Spyderco a bit like Savage firearms. I had one many years ago and was unimpressed. People on forums seem to love the ugly things but I won’t touch one after the experience I had. I suspect that there is a good bit of crossover in guys that love Spyderco and guys that love Savage Arms. The difference is that Savage prices their products in line with their quality.

Just my opinion. It is good to have options.

About as good as it gets

No question. Plain, regular blade. & Get a Para Military (PM) 2.

Maxamet is very nice as is M390 and S110 all would be great choices.

I've had all three and it's a plain blade for me - and make it a Delica 4 and you won't look no more.

Plain edge - I like the Native and Delica

I have a Spyderco Endura fully serrated, had it for about 20 years. So, no complaints.
But I just bought an Ontario Rat 2 in D2 steel. Less than $40, and very highly rated. Worth a look.

Plain flat grind vg10 is plenty . in Delica or Endura .

I bought a Spyderco fully serrated for opening and cutting up large cardboard cartons. It served that purpose well and I still use it after a Costco run to cut up the boxes used to for packing my groceries and stuff. I also have a Browning half and half where each half is too small to really be of any use. I use it only for light duty. The only reason I don't chuck it is it was a gift from my stepdaughter.
Paul B.

I would tend to agree it will get the job done and is easy to keep sharp. For someone that is looking for higher end steels it is pretty far behind all three that I listed. But is also a lot easy to sharpen than the three I listed.

Trade offs like pretty much everything, pick your poison. Not a thing wrong with VG10 be will need to be sharpened more.

If you do buy a Spyderco, consider buying direct from the factory or a very well-known reputable retailer.

The online market is inundated with very good counterfeit copies and much trickery associated with their sales.

There are so many well-made, serviceable folding knives out there. Even though I own one, I just don't understand the Spyderco mystique.

A half and half really slows cutting when I need a plain blade, which is most of the time. I would find a two bladed knife with one plain blade and one fully serrated blade useful.

They were the original, they sell at a fair price and they have brand recognition.
By "original", I mean the easy opening hole and the pocket clip.

The mystique is they listen to their customer base. They collaborate with great makers. But most of all venture into the high end steels that others will not and do not.

Excellent advice. I stick to Cutlery Shoppe, DLT Trading and Knifeworks.

Other good online dealers are knifecenter.com and kniveshipfree.com.